Asia's Tigers Under Siege

The population of Asian Tigers has declined from 100 000 a century ago to an estimated population of 3500 or less. Warning: Some of the slides in this gallery contain strong graphic content.

A young Siberian Tiger. In some societies, tigers are symbolic of progress, strength, courage and luck with their parts believed by many to have powerful medicinal properties. Animal rights group Traffic International found that tigers are most commonly killed for their skins in India and Nepal. They're killed most often for their bones and skeletons in China, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Russia and Nepal. Claws are most often found in India and Malaysia.

Map depicting the historic and present range of Tigers in Asia.

The illegal Tiger trade continues unabated despite repeated efforts to end it.

Tiger parts in trade in Southeast Asia.

Traffic International reports that parts of almost 1,000 Tigers were seized in 11 countries in the last 10 years. However, the exact number of animals killed for their parts and then traded remains unknown.

Bengal Tiger, India.

Tiger skin seized in Nepal.

Tigers cut into pieces, Nongkai Province,Thailand.